Customer Reviews

Faiths in Conflict?: Christian Integrity in a Multicultural World

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A wonderful book. The title says it all - conflict? question mark, & Christian integrity. Some of my favorite authors are C.S. Lewis, & Philip Yancey, but this book has become my favorite of all & most recommended to friends & family. I think it has to do with my own background & the state of the world today. I was born & raised in a tiny mid-West town, but over the years I have worked & travelled throughout much of the world (31 countries!), & this in itself can be a challenge to one's faith. Most of my friends are not Christians, and now my immediate family includes members of the Muslim & Hindu faiths & yet my faith in Christ remains the center of my life. Especially wonderful is the very clear description of the modern world given in the preface. We no longer live in a world of immigrants, but rather a world of "transnational migration" whereby cultures mix & people flow in & out of cultures without even moving physically sometimes. This affects all of us. Perhaps the most concise & beautiful description of Christianity that I have ever read is found in the "Jesus Enigma" chapter. It is a tremendous resource to reaffirm a simple but profound faith - knowing what you believe is the foundation of integrity. Vinoth Ramachandra I think represents the very rare author who can write with inspiration & authority on crucial topics, & yet his style is downright enjoyable as the pages turn themselves, & I believe that his book is a gift of faith to the world. The chapters are a joy to read & to re-read, each time offering a new perspective perhaps. I cannot recommend his book highly enough. It offers a message of integrity, dialogue, & hope in a world that desperately needs to hear it. I am so glad to have found this book & I think that you will be too.

This book was a textbook for a seminary class, Missio Dei. Ramachandra is a native of Sri Lanka who holds a PhD in Nuclear Engineering from the U. of London. He is a leader in the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students where he helps Christian university graduates think and respond as Christians to some of the social, cultural, and political challenges they face throughout the world. He has also taught in several theological seminaries and conferences. His Danish wife is a trained counselor and Bible teacher. From this base of experience Dr. Ramachandra has written this highly-readable book which daringly confronts "hidden issues" and "conceptual fuzziness" that help fuel the new "religious wars." Many of these things are not in fact based on the religion with which they are cloaked but are based on matters such as politics, power, and economics. The book ends helpfully with a disentangling of some of the issues and an argument for a contextual approach towards civility and the common good, with implications for authentic Christian discipleship in the late modern world. The book is an easy read of 171 pages, has Endnotes and a nice Bibliography, and is printed in dark enough ink with print sized so that it is easy to see. It would make a good book as a basis of discussion with a small group or as provocative reading for the thoughtful indiviudual.

Wouldnt categorize as easy reading but neither would i categorize CS Lewis as easy reading. Both are my favorite authors. The book talks about challenges in a multicultural world where tolerance seems to have been misunderstood. a must read for a thinking Christian who wants to engage and bring the Gospel to the world where s/he lives